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First UN publication on the state of the world’s indigenous peoples reveals alarming statistics on poverty, health, education, employment, human rights, the environment and more.
(29 January 2010) - Indigenous peoples all over the world continue to suffer from a disproportionate high rate of poverty, health problems, crime and human rights abuses. This is according to a United Nations’ first publication on the State of the World’s Indigenous Peoples, a thorough assessment of how indigenous peoples are faring in areas such as health, poverty, education and human rights.
Some of the report’s of the startling statistics include:
In the United States, a Native American is 600 times more likely to contract tuberculosis and 62 percent more likely to commit suicide than the general population.
In Australia, an indigenous child can expect to die 20 years earlier than his non-native compatriot. The life expectancy gap is also 20 years in Nepal, while in Guatemala it is 13 years and in New Zealand it is 11.
In parts of Ecuador, indigenous people have 30 times greater risk of throat cancer than the national average.
Worldwide, more than 50 percent of indigenous adults suffer from Type 2 diabetes – a number predicted to rise.
While indigenous peoples make up around 370 million of the world’s population – some 5 percent – they constitute around one-third of the world’s 900 million extremely poor rural people. Every day, indigenous communities all over the world face issues of violence and brutality, continuing assimilation policies, dispossession of land, marginalization, forced removal or relocation, denial of land rights, impacts of large-scale development, abuses by military forces and a host of other abuses.
Alarming state of indigenous health
The publication’s statistics illustrate the gravity of the situation in both developed and developing countries. Poor nutrition, limited access to care, lack of resources crucial to maintaining health and well-being and contamination of natural resources are all contributing factors to the terrible state of indigenous health worldwide.
According to the report:
- Indigenous peoples’ life expectancy is up to 20 years lower than their non-indigenous counterparts.
- Indigenous peoples experience disproportionately high levels of maternal and infant mortality,
- malnutrition, cardiovascular illnesses, HIV/AIDS and other infectious diseases such as malaria and tuberculosis.
- Suicide rates of indigenous peoples, particularly among youth, are considerably higher in many countries, for example, up to 11 times the national average for the Inuit in Canada.
Impoverishment of Canada’s Aboriginal Peoples
The report makes further note of the deplorable living conditions face by First Nations Peoples in Canada. It cites some of the main findings from Canada’s Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples (RCAP):
- Life expectancy at birth for the registered Indian population was estimated at 68.9 years for males and 76.6 years for females, reflecting differences of 8.1 years and 5.5 years respectively.
- About 70 percent of First Nations students on reserve will never complete high school.
- Aboriginals make up about 19 percent of federal prisoners, while they are 4.4 percent of the total population.
- The rate of indigenous in Canadian prisons climbed 22 percent between 1996 and 2004, while the general prison population dropped 12 percent.
Displacement and dispossession destroying indigenous communities
One of the most significant threats facing indigenous peoples identified in the publication is the displacement of indigenous peoples from their lands, territories and resources. The publication details several examples of displacement, separation and eviction, including in Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, Hawaii, Rwanda, Burundi, Uganda, Democratic Republic of the Congo and Colombia.
“When indigenous peoples have reacted and tried to assert their rights, they have suffered physical abuse, imprisonment, torture and even death,” states the publication.
The State of the World’s Indigenous Peoples was authored by seven independent experts and produced by the Secretariat of the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues.
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More information:
UN Report on State of the World’s Indigenous Peoples